Penn State Basketball Stock Report

Story posted February 7, 2016 in CommRadio, Sports by David Arroyo

Following their first win against a ranked opponent since 2014, the Nittany Lions have a lot to be excited about coming off of their win against No. 22 Indiana. This is a win that should be cherished and came by the way of not only offense, but a defense that held Indiana’s best players below their season averages.

Stock Up: Brandon Taylor

Without Brandon Taylor, Penn State is not even remotely in the game against Indiana. Taylor provided 24 points to go alongside six rebounds and two steals. Taylor’s leadership on the offensive end led Penn State to outperform one of the best offensive teams in the Big Ten. His senior contribution outmatched that of Indiana’s key senior in Yogi Ferrell and helped rally his guys together for a victory. The senior forward continues to impress this season and show the potential to possibly be a contributor at the next level. With only about a month of games remaining in his college career, Taylor will be looking to make the most of his final opportunities in Happy Valley.

Stock Up: Devin Foster

After being listed with stock down a week ago, Devin Foster’s performance against Indiana has him back on the right track. Earlier in the week Foster contributed only two points, rebounds and assists in the blowout loss to Iowa. But in a game where Brandon Taylor would not be enough to take down a strong Indiana team, the senior bench player stepped up big and provided a spark off of the bench. His 13 points led the Penn State bench and was on par with Indiana’s Yogi Ferrell. To get that kind of contribution from the bench against this team is huge and was a big reason the team was able to pull off the upset. Foster also occasionally guarded Yogi Ferrell, who had an extremely poor day shooting from the field.

Stock Up: Shep Garner

It is normally hard to justify saying a player is improving when he shoots 4-for-13 from the field, but Shep Garner’s contribution was much greater than that of a scorer. Garner was tasked with stopping the senior guard who has been brought up a few times, Yogi Ferrell. Ferrell for the season averages about 17 ppg and shoots at about 48 percent from the floor. Against the Nittany Lions, Garner held Ferrell to 25 percent shooting and below his season point’s average with only 13. The disruption of Indiana’s best player never allowed for them to get in a groove and that can be attributed in large part to the play of the sophomore guard.

Stock Down: Payton Banks

A week after having his stock be unchanged, Banks finds himself on the decline after two poor performances this week against Iowa and Indiana. Banks had emerged as a consistent third option for the Nittany Lions and they are lucky to have won against Indiana despite receiving little contribution from Banks. This will serve as a good learning experience for the sophomore forward and help him to know what level of play is needed to beat the best of the Big Ten.

David Arroyo is a freshman majoring in broadcast journalism. To contact him, email arroyodavid01@gmail.com.

About the Contributors

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David Arroyo

Senior / Broadcast Journalism

David Arroyo currently serves as one of two General Managers for CommRadio. David is a former arts & entertainment director, social media director and editor for the station. He has produced for multiple Penn State sports while in CommRadio, has done play by play for Penn State sporting events such as football, basketball and volleyball and co-hosted and produced his own talk show. During the fall of 2017, David was an anchor, producer and reporter for the Centre County Report. David most recently interned at WPVI-TV, 6abc in Philadelphia during the summer of 2018. While at 6abc he was a programing intern and helped in the production of their weekly show “FYI Philly.” David has interned at B94.5 (State College) and Center City Film and Video (Philadelphia). Follow him on Twitter (@_arroyodavid) or email him at .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address).